<p>One person was killed and 157 injured on Wednesday when a plane carrying 177 people skidded off the runway at an Istanbul airport,</p>.<p>"At this stage, 157 injured people are in hospital and one of our fellow citizens has lost their life," Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters.</p>.<p>Live images broadcast on Turkish television showed several people climbing through a large crack in the severed aircraft and escaping onto one of the wings at the rear.</p>.<p>The Boeing 737 operated by Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines had flown into Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport from the Aegean port city of Izmir, NTV televion reported.</p>.<p>The plane was apparently buffeted by strong winds and heavy rain lashing Istanbul, Turkey's largest city.</p>.<p>Fifty-two people were injured and taken to hospital, Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on Twitter, but there were no deaths.</p>.<p>"Some passengers evacuated the plane by themselves but others are stuck inside and our rescuers are working to free them," Transport Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan said on CNN-Turk television.</p>.<p>The plane was carrying 177 passengers and six crew members, the governor said, while Turkish media reports said there were 12 children on board.</p>.<p>Turkish media also said the two pilots, a Turkish national and a South Korean, were seriously hurt.</p>.<p>NTV showed images of the badly damaged plane and flames inside, which were later put out by firefighters.</p>.<p>After darkness fell, television footage showed dozens of rescue workers in high-visibility jackets surrounding the plane with flashlights.</p>.<p>Some sprayed water jets onto the severed body of the aircraft, while others could be seen climbing up onto the plane to comb through the cabin.</p>.<p>According to NTV, Turhan said the plane broke after a "strong landing" at Sabiha Gokcen, one of two main international airports in Istanbul.</p>.<p>The front of the plane including the cockpit was sliced off from bulk of the fuselage, and another huge fissure separated the rear of the aircraft including the tail.</p>.<p>Sabiha Gokcen, which lies on the Asian side of Turkey's commercial hub, was closed and flights were being redirected to Istanbul's main airport.</p>.<p>There had been very strong winds and rain in the area before the incident and poor weather conditions in Istanbul, particularly in winter, offen lead to the cancellation of flights.</p>.<p>The plane had landed at the airport at 1518 GMT, the private DHA news agency reported.</p>.<p>In January 2018, a Pegasus Boeing 737-800 slid down an embankment at Trabzon airport on the Black Sea, and landed just metres from the water with its wheels stuck in thick mud.</p>.<p>After four days, the plane was eventually lifted back onto the runway with engineers using cranes. All 162 passenger and six crew were safely evacuated.</p>.<p>President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to make Istanbul the world's top aviation hub and in 2018 opened a new mega-airport in the city of 15 million people.</p>.<p>Pegasus, which has been flying for 20 years, has a fleet of 83 aircraft, including 47 Boeings and 36 Airbus planes, according to its website.</p>
<p>One person was killed and 157 injured on Wednesday when a plane carrying 177 people skidded off the runway at an Istanbul airport,</p>.<p>"At this stage, 157 injured people are in hospital and one of our fellow citizens has lost their life," Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters.</p>.<p>Live images broadcast on Turkish television showed several people climbing through a large crack in the severed aircraft and escaping onto one of the wings at the rear.</p>.<p>The Boeing 737 operated by Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines had flown into Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport from the Aegean port city of Izmir, NTV televion reported.</p>.<p>The plane was apparently buffeted by strong winds and heavy rain lashing Istanbul, Turkey's largest city.</p>.<p>Fifty-two people were injured and taken to hospital, Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on Twitter, but there were no deaths.</p>.<p>"Some passengers evacuated the plane by themselves but others are stuck inside and our rescuers are working to free them," Transport Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan said on CNN-Turk television.</p>.<p>The plane was carrying 177 passengers and six crew members, the governor said, while Turkish media reports said there were 12 children on board.</p>.<p>Turkish media also said the two pilots, a Turkish national and a South Korean, were seriously hurt.</p>.<p>NTV showed images of the badly damaged plane and flames inside, which were later put out by firefighters.</p>.<p>After darkness fell, television footage showed dozens of rescue workers in high-visibility jackets surrounding the plane with flashlights.</p>.<p>Some sprayed water jets onto the severed body of the aircraft, while others could be seen climbing up onto the plane to comb through the cabin.</p>.<p>According to NTV, Turhan said the plane broke after a "strong landing" at Sabiha Gokcen, one of two main international airports in Istanbul.</p>.<p>The front of the plane including the cockpit was sliced off from bulk of the fuselage, and another huge fissure separated the rear of the aircraft including the tail.</p>.<p>Sabiha Gokcen, which lies on the Asian side of Turkey's commercial hub, was closed and flights were being redirected to Istanbul's main airport.</p>.<p>There had been very strong winds and rain in the area before the incident and poor weather conditions in Istanbul, particularly in winter, offen lead to the cancellation of flights.</p>.<p>The plane had landed at the airport at 1518 GMT, the private DHA news agency reported.</p>.<p>In January 2018, a Pegasus Boeing 737-800 slid down an embankment at Trabzon airport on the Black Sea, and landed just metres from the water with its wheels stuck in thick mud.</p>.<p>After four days, the plane was eventually lifted back onto the runway with engineers using cranes. All 162 passenger and six crew were safely evacuated.</p>.<p>President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to make Istanbul the world's top aviation hub and in 2018 opened a new mega-airport in the city of 15 million people.</p>.<p>Pegasus, which has been flying for 20 years, has a fleet of 83 aircraft, including 47 Boeings and 36 Airbus planes, according to its website.</p>